The Adventure of Al
by thewackonextdor
Summary: Have you ever wondered if the story of Al and Ed was told in a different way? Wondered how it would be if they lived in Ancient Greece? Read and find out. : ONESHOT


_Disclaimer: I don't own Ed, Al, any greek myths or whatever. _

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**_I wrote this for my english class; we were supposed to write a greek myth and soo..yeah. Which is why Al is refered to as the "Tin Man."_**

**_So basically I tweaked a lot of the story line and Al gets his body back in a different way..but I still think it's a good story!_**

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Once upon a time, there once lived a little boy named Al. He lived a good life; he had a lot of pets and lived out in the country side with his older brother and their parents. His brother was his best friend and so was the girl down the road. They always spent their time outside exploring and just having a good time. But one day, his father left and never came back. The whole incident hurt his entire family, but life goes on; and so it did for his family. After a while, everything went back to normal. Al and his brother Ed resumed playing outside with their friend Winry and exploring the woods behind their house.

One day, Ed and Al went into town. There they saw a woman with magic powers. They were so amazed by what she could do that they just stood and stared. The woman noticed their stares and asked if they'd like to try what she was doing. They nodded eagerly and couldn't wait to try. But all of a sudden, rain started pouring rapidly. There was a great flood and everyone ran towards the hills. The woman just laughed and pushed back the rushing water from the town. Al just stared. He knew something was different about that woman. But he couldn't figure out what. The woman walked over and told them, rather proudly, that she was the goddess of water, Nymphermia. The two boys were afraid. They never met a god before, and now that they had, they didn't quite know what to do. They just stood and stared for a while and then she spoke. "If you ever need help, come find me at the river's edge." They nodded and ran back to their house.

They immediately started looking up all the gods they could find and found a book in their bookcase that showed how a mortal could have powers like a god. They read and read until they figured how to bring someone back from the dead; without going to the underworld and making a bargain with Hades. Being young children, they decided to bring back their dog; Fluffy. They set up everything, and chose a day when they knew that their mother would not be home; since she would disapprove. They were both nervous and excited as they read the rules out loud. They did everything in the book as it said, word for word, when suddenly; they heard a loud crackling noise. It was Zeus. He stopped the two boys and said, "Halt. Do you not know what can come from bringing back something from the dead?" They both shook their heads. "Bad things can happen. By bringing someone back; you tamper with the strings of life and the cycle of the earth. I will punish both of you. You-"Zeus said, nodding to Ed, "will, once I leave, will not remember anything; including your family and your brother here." Ed immediately started crying. Where would he go? He was only seven years old. Al stared, and while tearing up, asked himself what Zeus could possibly do to him. "And you, Al, will have your soul transferred to this." In front of Al, a medieval suit of armor appeared. Al stared. He looked at Ed. They both burst into tears. Zeus realized that his punishment was a little too harsh, but what was done was done. So, he thought for a bit and thought of a way for the two little boys to somehow get out of their fate. "But wait," Zeus spoke once again, "If you, Al, figure out a way to restore what will be lost, your body will be returned to you, and your brother's memory will be restored. Take caution as you only have one chance to reverse this curse and you must figure out a way by your eighteenth birthday." Ed and Al both nodded and Ed decided to get a pen and a piece of paper. On it, he wrote, "Don't throw away! Suit of armor brother. Love the suit of armor." He then tucked the paper into his shirt pocket and stood. He wiped away his tears and looked at Al. "Are you ready?" Al nodded and stood up. Zeus waited patiently, as he understood the bond between families. "I will never forget you, brother. Just promise me one thing. If you, somehow, remember, meet me in Athens when you are 18. Look for a suit of armor…as if that'd be hard to see." Ed laughed and looked at Al. "Don't worry, I'll remember. I promise I will." Zeus sighed. He thought to himself, "What am I supposed to do? I know I'm not supposed to change fate...but..." Zeus couldn't wait any longer. He turned back to the boys who were laughing and crying at the same time. "Are you ready?" Both boys turned and faced Zeus. "Yes", they answered at the same time. "Close your eyes." The boys grabbed hands andclosed their eyes. Zeus lifted his hands. Ed squeezed Al's hand and whispered, "I won't forget you brother. I promise." Al squeezed Ed's hand back, as if to tell Ed that he knew he wouldn't forget…and to tell him that it'd all be okay.

---- 18 years later.

Al sighed and walked around Athens. He was used to the stares and shrieks that followed him from town to town, but after a while it got to him. He wished he could figure out the loophole to Zeus's curse but the only thing he could possibly think of was the book that was the cause of all this pain he'd gone through. "No, I can't look at it", Al told himself. That was the last thing he wanted to see. But he was running out of time. He was now, 17…at least, his soul was and his 18th birthday was fast approaching. He only had about a month until the curse would be permanent and his soul would be forever trapped inside the suit of armor and his brother would never regain his memory. Everyday, he would sit on a bench in the heart of Athens and look for his brother. "He couldn't of changed that much; so much that I wouldn't be able tor recognize him…" he told himself, but no matter how many times he tried to reassure himself, the haunting thought that he couldn't recognize Ed was always in his mind.

"Look mommy! There's the tin man again!" Al looked up and saw that a little girl, about four years old, was standing there, tugging on her mother's dress and pointing at Al. "Shush; he might hear you." "But mommy! Why is he like that? And

why would it hurt him to hear! It's not like he wouldn't know that he's a tin man." "Shhh. We have to go pay our respects to the water goddess, Nymphermia. She saved our crops this year." "Okay." The little girl walked away reluctantly, occasionally looking back at Al. Al brightened up at the name of the water goddess.

He remembered that she said that she'd help if her brothers ever needed it. He waved at the little girl, and the girl smiled and waved back. At least someone wasn't scared of him.

Al rushed back to his house near the outskirts of Athens. No one would bother him there. He opened the door and was greeted by his cat. He stroked her and then looked for his small treasured box. He opened it and in it were pictures of his family. He frantically looked for the right one—a close up of him and his brother around the time that the curse was bestowed on them. "Perfect," he said and ran back outside. He was too excited to wait for morning, since it was already turning dark. He sprinted through the entire city, laughing and jumping along the way. He couldn't wait! He was finally going to be reunited with his brother.

What Al didn't notice was while he was sprinting through town, his brother Ed was walking aimlessly through Athens. He didn't know WHY he was in Athens, he just had an urge to come. And what confused him more was why he always kept a small piece of paper that had chicken scratch writing that said "Don't throw away! Suit of armor brother. Love the suit of armor." " What suit of armor", he thought. That's when he saw a shiny silver blur pass by and bump into him along the way. "Sorry!" the blur called and kept on running. "What was that? It looked kind of like…a suit of armor!" Ed ran behind the blur, hoping to figure out where it was going and if that armor was the armor that the paper was talking about.

Al was closer now. He could see the temple at the river's edge. For years he had waited for this moment, and now it might just come true. Once he found out how to break the curse from Nymphermia, he could look for his brother and they would be reunited. Al was inside the temple now. It was dark and no one was around. "Perfect" he thought, "I'm all alone."

There was no one to bother him, no one to scream, no one to ask who he was. Al looked up at the statue of Nymphermia and cried, "Nymphermia! It's me! The little boy! I'm here…I need your help." Al waited and he thought she wouldn't come.

"Great, all these years and the only thing I could think of didn't work." Al said. Just then, he heard footsteps and a voice broke the silence. "Who are you?" Al turned and couldn't believe it. It was Ed. He fought the feeling to tackle him and instead he shakily answered "Um…I'm Al." "Am I supposed to know you? I have this piece of paper that said to look for armor…but I don't know why. You're really the only armor I've seen in---"Just then, Nymphermia appeared. "I was waiting for this." Then, Zeus appeared. "Congratulations! You found the loophole!" Al could hardly contain himself. Finally he was going to be reunited with his brother. Ed, however, didn't understand. "What? What loophole?" Zeus said, "Why don't you go ask Al over there. He has what can break the spell." Al was confused. "Huh?" The only thing he had with him was the picture. "What? This is the only thing I have. " Al walked over to Ed and gave him the picture. Ed looked at it. "What? But…that's me…but who's that kid?" Al stood there and waited. He didn't know what to say. He knew that if he said, "Oh, that's me," his brother wouldn't understand and deny it…and possibly get scared. But, Ed said…"No…wait…that's my brother, isn't it." Ed studied the picture closer; straining his eyes. "That's…you, right Al?" Al was so happy that Ed was starting to get it that he started to tear up again. He felt warm tears fall on his arms. But this didn't make sense, he thought. How could he…feel if he was a suit of armor? He looked down. He had human arms. He couldn't believe it was finally happening. Ed was shocked at first, but then smiled. "I told you I'd remember." "You remember?" Al was so happy he couldn't handle it anymore. He tackled Ed. "But how, Zeus? What was the loophole? This picture? "Zeus smiled and shook his head. "No. Your bond with Ed was the loophole. The picture just helped it along." Ed and Al thanked Zeus and Nymphermia; then left the temple. They spent that night looking at childhood pictures and talking about the past 18 years. They lived together ever after. And they kept the suit of armor, as a reminder of the bond they had, the bond that was so strong that not even the gods could break it.

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So how did you like it?

Please comment!

(No flames please. : )


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